Thursday
by iloveromance
Summary: When Jovie agrees to go out on a date with Buddy, the fifth day of the week suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.


It was the craziest (and, dare she think it) best day of her life, not to mention the most interesting. She couldn't believe that she'd actually accepted a date to "eat food" with a grown man whose wardrobe consisted of an elf costume.

 _Yes, it was official. She'd become that desperate._

It wasn't as though men were beating down her door and besides, what was the harm in going out with Buddy? Gimble's Department store had fired him and yet he bravely showed up at the store (clad in his elf costume) with his little brother in tow. It was kind cute actually, the way his little brother was so helpful and supportive of Buddy's attempts to ask her out on a date, if not a bit odd. Michael couldn't have been more than ten. Odd, perhaps but sweet.

Jovie wanted to decline the offer (oh how she wanted to say no), but when she looked into Buddy's disappointed eyes, her resolve crumbled. After he and Michael left the holiday department, and as Thursday drew closer, she found herself thinking about Buddy more and more. She smiled, as she looked up at the ceiling to admire the over-the top way that Buddy had decorated the department; with the gold streamers and intricate white paper snowflakes (how in the heck did he make them so complex and create them so quickly?), turning the whole place into a winter wonderland unlike any she'd ever seen. It looked a hundred times better than it had before, but she wouldn't admit it.

For the first time in her life, coming to work was actually fun. It didn't make sense. She hated her job (hated it with a passion) and basically hated her boring life. But since Buddy had arrived and turned her world upside down, she found that she smiled more often and even laughed out loud; sometimes for no reason at all. It was completely and utterly insane… and she absolutely loved it.

She began her routine early that Thursday; something she'd never done for any other date. She wasn't even sure that it was a date, but whatever it was, she could hardly wait for it to begin. When the door buzzer sounded, her heart skipped a beat and she opened the door. He stood there, eyes wide, smiling at her in flattering approval. Dressed in a fuzzy brown hat that covered his ears and a suit and tie complete with a very nice trench coat, he looked… miraculous.

He certainly was the most interesting date she'd ever had the pleasure of being with. Never in her life had she skipped along the sidewalk, watched her date spin himself silly in the revolving door of a hotel or stop and gaze at every single Christmas tree imaginable within the span of Fifth Avenue. She'd lost count of how many there were and it amazed her that she had no idea New York City had so many Christmas trees in the first place.

When he gazed at a particularly large (and very beautiful tree) she knew that she couldn't let the evening go by without showing him the biggest and best tree of all;' the one at Rockefeller Center. It was absolutely spectacular as always, but on that night even more so.

As they ice skated hand in hand, he suddenly stopped, turned to her and then impulsively kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry." He said by way of apology.

But she could only smile. "You missed."

His eyebrows rose. "What do you mean I missed?"

"You missed." She repeated. And then she showed him exactly what she meant as she wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him close to her until their lips touched. He stared at her for a second and then smiled before kissing her again. It was truly a magical moment.

They stared at one another, neither of them able to believe what had happened. Around them the ice skaters floated by; twirling and gliding. But Jovey and Buddy only had eyes for each other.

 _This was crazy; this was so crazy…._

"So what should we do now?" Buddy asked, his voice breaking into her thoughts.

"Well, I am kind of hungry." She admitted.

"Oh my gosh that's right!" he shouted. "We're supposed to eat food! The code! Oh I can't believe that I forgot! Let's go right now! Where's the nearest candy store?"

She laughed and turned to face him. "How about something more than candy canes?"

He grinned at this idea. "Spaghetti?"

"Spaghetti works for me."

"Great! Let's go right now!" He took her hand and carefully led her off of the ice. But once they had their shoes on, they skipped down the sidewalk at a pace that even Jovie found difficult to keep up with.

"Buddy, what are you doing? Why are you going so fast?"

"Hurry!" He shouted. "The spaghetti will be all gone!"

"That's crazy!" She replied breathlessly. "There are hundreds of places in New York City to get spaghetti."

Buddy's eyes widened. "Really? Can we go to all of them?"

Again she laughed, realizing that she hadn't laughed this much since… well… ever!

"No. But I know a great place. Come on.

 _(At the restaurant)  
_

"Enjoy your meal." The waiter said, placing the two steaming plates of spaghetti in front of them. "Will there be anything else?"

"Do you have any syrup?" Buddy asked.

The waiter's eyebrows rose. "I beg your pardon?"

"Do you have any syrup?" Buddy repeated.

"Um, sir… It's… spaghetti…" The waiter replied. "We don't have any-."

"Oh wait… I think I have some right-." Buddy reached into his suit sleeve but when he removed his hand, it was empty. And he looked as though he was about to cry.

"Darn, I don't have any."

Feeling a sudden burst of sympathy for him, Jovie rubbed his back. "It's okay, Buddy."

"Is everything all right?" the waiter asked.

"Yes." Jovie said with a smile. "He's just… he likes his spaghetti... a certain way but I'm sure he'll like this too."

The waiter nodded. "I'll leave you to your meals."

Jovie leaned close to Buddy until their foreheads were touching. And she felt a warm cozy feeling inside. "Try the spaghetti sauce. I promise you'll like it. And if you don't we'll have spaghetti with syrup some other time, all right?"

Buddy nodded. "Well…okay." Dutifully he twirled the long strands of spaghetti around his fork and took a bite.

Jovie watched his face for his reaction and suddenly he broke out into a smile. "Wow! That's amazing!"

"It is, isn't it?"

The rest of the meal was filled with animated conversation; although she'd never had a conversation quite like the ones she had with Buddy. He was unlike anyone she'd ever met. And it was wonderful.

 _(Later that night)  
_

They held hands and walked back to her apartment, once again admiring every Christmas tree and Christmas decoration they saw. At the door they gazed into each other's eyes and she found that she didn't want the night to end.

"Well, I guess I'll see you when I see you?" She said, breaking the silence between them.

"When will that be?"

"I don't know. I guess the next time I see you."

"Oh…" He said, shaking his head. "Hey, you want to come over to my dad's house for dinner? I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Michael will be there."

Her heart fluttered. "Sure, that sounds nice. When?"

He scrunched up his face and looked as though he was about to cry again. "Oh no, I forgot to ask! I'm such a cotton headed ninny muggings! I can't do anything right! I-."

She stopped him with a kiss that left her breathless. When he drew back, he stared at her in surprise. "What… why did you do that?"

"Well, because I wanted to and so that you would know that you are not a-."

"Cotton headed ninny mugging."

"Right… whatever that is."

"I'm not?"

She grinned and shook her head. "No."

"Oh…" the smiled returned to his face and he kissed her again. "Well, thank you."

"Thank you for the wonderful evening. I had fun."

"Really?"

"Can we do it again next Thursday?"

"You really want to?"

"I asked, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. And yes… we can."

"Okay, well I guess I'll see you Thursday."

"Or the next time I see you."

Jovie laughed. "Right."

"Okay, well, bye."

When he turned around she called to him. "Buddy, wait!"

He spun around. "What?"

"You forgot something."

His eyes widened. "I did? What did I forget?"

"This…"

Without waiting for him to reply, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again. That kiss, and all of the kisses that followed, were sweeter than candy canes and syrup.

She could hardly wait till next Thursday.

 _THE END_


End file.
